“You shouldn’t be logged in,” Aoife said when her younger sister called. She was inside The City. Hadn’t she seen the news? The software was glitching like mad, and there Nora was merrily meeting with her team of international hackers, or whatever they did all day. Hang out, she supposed. That’s what she did, when she was that age. But she did that in a proper coffee shop, not a trillion euro VR playground.
“I know. Things are weird, but I need a favor.”
“Of course.”
“I don’t think this is a glitch. It’s a takeover.”
“What do you need?”
The City: 089: Aoife
January 29, 2015
140 Characters, The City 140 Characters, Aoife, Drabble, Nora, The City, The Daytrippers Leave a comment
The City 088: Oberon
January 28, 2015
Free Fiction, The City 140 Characters, Drabble, Oberon, The Cheshires, The City Leave a comment
Oberon sat on a rooftop and watched the chaos spreading out on the ground below. Oberon liked the rooftops, surveying The City as traffic passed this way and that, cataloging the cars and the data signatures as they sped through the network. He didn’t know why he liked it. His simple AI mind was that of a cat watching traffic and chasing bugs. But the data all fed back someplace that even he didn’t know. Suddenly, he felt hands wrap around himself and lift him from the ground. He hissed at the girl.
“What do we have here?” she smiled.
The City: 087: Faiza
January 27, 2015
Free Fiction, The City 140 Characters, Drabble, Faiza, The City, Zombies Leave a comment
Faiza had a long day. The train had been late, her office had been a madhouse, the train had been late again. There were weird rumors circulating, and cops everyplace. Even virtually, the police eyed her hijab as though she could somehow suicide bomb a server from the inside. Now, all she wanted to do was logout and rest her eyes. Her City apartment was at the very top of one of the Bayside towers. Once she climbed the stairs, she found the door to her apartment was locked. All the doors were locked. She heard growling down the hallway.
The City: 086: Trevor
January 26, 2015
Free Fiction, The City 140 Characters, Drabble, Midas Corp, News, The City, Trevor Leave a comment
“Good evening, I’m Trevor Hollingsworth.” He looked into the camera and made his grave face. “Public health officials are warning users to refrain from logging in to popular computer program “The City,” as rumors of widespread ‘Boot Syndrome’ are sweeping the globe. Midas Corporation, the owners of The City have yet to issue a statement. The virtual environment software is used by billions of people worldwide, and is used for everything from virtual chatting to finance to virtual reality office environments. The program has been plagued with errors since former CEO Augustus Sizemore announced his sale of Midas stock shares.”
The City: 085: Alba
January 23, 2015
Free Fiction, The City 140 Characters, Alba, Drabble, Midas Corp, The City, The Robbery Leave a comment
Alba watched the gunman from her window, and wondered if a boot gun could shoot through glass. She watched the rest of the people in coats cover the other exits and pull their own boot guns.
“Listen up, this is a robbery!” She almost laughed. No one had ever pulled off an ARMED robbery in The City. How could you? The money wasn’t even real, just the a representation. Couldn’t Midas just erase their whole take? Or were they there for something else, and the robbery was just a cover? She put up her hands and waited to find out.
The City: 084: Carlo
January 22, 2015
Free Fiction, The City 140 Characters, Carlo, Midas Corp, The City, The Robbery Leave a comment
Carlo watched the gunman boot his boss. It was the first time he’d ever seen anyone booted before, and it was surreal. He fired, and the bullet, a black dot streaking faster than the eye could follow, lashed out and struck Joseph in the back. And then Joseph was just gone, with no animation. And he wouldn’t be back for, what? An hour? A day? Was this a robbery, or just a joyride with an illegal mod? How the hell were they supposed to close up? With a sense of irritation, he locked his cash drawer and pocketed the key.
The City: 083: Pilar
January 21, 2015
Free Fiction, The City 140 Characters, Pilar, The City, The Robbery Leave a comment
Pilar had just wanted to do a little bit of banking after work. The branch was on her way to her logout house from the office, and she needed to check her deposits, and see if she needed to do any currency exchanges before the weekend. She was going on a trip. A real-world trip. She had been looking forward to spending a nice long time logged out. But here she was cowering under a table while some yahoos were shooting up a bank. She hoped they wouldn’t boot her. She heard that was an incredible pain to fix.
The City: 082: Joseph
January 20, 2015
Free Fiction, The City 140 Characters, Felicia, Joseph, Midas Corp, The City, The Robbers Leave a comment
Joseph watched Felicia flirt with a customer and checked off a little box in his head. The part-timer was pretty, and she wasn’t dumb, but she never kept her mind on what she was doing. That was what you got with teenagers. While she chatted, half a dozen more customers came in after him, and she didn’t give them the time of day. She was getting written up this time. Grumbling to himself, he stomped across the lobby floor to chew her out. He didn’t even see the figure by the entrance pull out his boot gun and fire.
The City: 081: Felicia
January 19, 2015
Free Fiction, The City 140 Characters, Felicia, Ingmar, Midas Corp, The City, The Robbery Leave a comment
“Welcome to Midas Bank,” Felicia said with more enthusiasm than she felt. It was nearly 5, City Time, and she was ready to close up. The boy was blond, young, and handsome. He had a very nice smile.
“Thank you,” he said, and he leaned in towards her. “I’m interested in making some deposits. Can you help me get started.” He winked at her. Normally, she would have immediately blocked such a creeper line, but she giggled instead. He was just her type. The receptionist failed notice the crowd that came in behind him, or the gun under his coat.
The City: 080: Taddeo
January 16, 2015
Free Fiction, The City 140 Characters, Drabble, Midas Corp, Norm, Taddeo, The City, The Robbery Leave a comment
While his coworker Matilda sat gaping at the ruined tower, Taddeo was busy tapping out texts into his messenger, all cyphered and encrypted of course. The Cops weren’t letting them text, but he had a special hack from Renee. It let him text without sending any signals to his avatar, so he could type away while its hands were still.
TOWER ON LOCKDOWN. ABORT THE MISSION!
Norm was quick to reply.
ACKNOWLEDGED. MOVING TO SECONDARY TARGET.
Taddeo wanted to hit something. They were going ahead with the robbery at a branch location, which made him culpable, but with no cut.
Hugh J. O'Donnell 